Roasting Soybeans

Yesterday we roasted soybeans.  I like watching the clouds of steam billow up from the hot beans. 

The roasted beans will be fed to the cows.  Yum!

Click here to go to an earlier post about soybean roasting.

White Flowers

White wildflowers have been blooming along the roadside for while now.  Everyday I walk by them and think, “No, I will not take their picture…white is just plain boring.”  But, yesterday I changed my mind. 

Here’s some anemones:

And, some northern bedstraw:

Catnap

It turned very warm and humid over the weekend.  Good weather for catnaps!

Barn Charm

This barn or whatever was in the same vicinity as the barn I posted last week:

Visit Bluff Area Daily for this week’s Barn Charm.

Cake in a Cup

I rarely post recipes or take photos of food, but here’s a super quick and easy microwave chocolate cake recipe I found in a Reader’s Digest I was reading in the hospital waiting room when my son had his recent appendectomy.  This treat is perfect for someone like me who loves chocolate and likes to eat it OFTEN.

(The recipe said to mix the ingredients right in the mug, but I mixed them in a small bowl before pouring the batter into the mug.)

1/4 cup flour (I use the half white, half wheat kind)

1/4 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cocoa (use less if  you want)

2 tablespoons whisked egg (I used a whole small egg)

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons choc chips (optional)

Mix the first four ingredients.  Combine egg, milk, oil, and vanilla, and stir into dry mixture.  Add chocolate chips.  Microwave for 3 minutes. 

Eat it warm with ice cream!

Alfalfa Blossom

Would you believe this is an alfalfa blossom?  As in that field crop which we bale and feed to the cows.  It was along the edge of the hayfield and had escaped being mowed off when my husband cut hay awhile back.

Your Sunday Best

Visit A Rural Journal for find Your Sunday Best.

Weekly Top Shot

This photo shows pennycress seedpods.  I was shooting toward the early morning sunshine with the Nikon D40, using the 18-55mm lens with macro attached.  I liked the way it turned out.  I didn’t change the color, brightness, or contrast of the original photo. 

Visit The View From Right Here to see more Weekly Top Shots.

Yarrow

In one of our fields is a small area that I think might be a prairie remnant.  Here’s what’s blooming there right now:

It is called yarrow.

Rain

Last evening we got a quarter-inch of much needed rain.

Skywatch

An evening sky from earlier this month…

Thanks for stopping by. 

Visit Skywatch Friday to see sky photos from around the world.

Yesterday

Yesterday my husband hauled a load of corn to town to sell.  I zoomed a quarter of a mile with my Canon Powershot to get this photo.  I had to make sure he didn’t run the stop sign.  Just kidding!

Later on, he cultivated a field of corn.  Not to remove weeds but to aerate the soil.  You can see how windy it was yesterday.  We need for the wind to stop and some rain to fall!

 

I had walked out to the hayfield to mark some patches of wildflowers so they don’t get mowed down.  I also checked on our small prairie area and found some yarrow getting ready to bloom.  They aren’t quite photo-ready, though.

Flowers in the Yard

Dianthus:

Viola:

Geranium (a gift to me on Mother’s Day):

And, mallow, I think (it’s a weed, but don’t tell anyone):

Crop Report

As of last evening, our cornfields look quite good despite the dry weather:

The soil here and there on our farm is light and sandy and dries out quickly:

Rows of soybeans have emerged from the former rye field:

The bean plants are a couple inches tall right now and hoping for rain soon.

House Ends

Last evening I tried to watch the final episode of House but fell asleep midway through it, waking up just in time to see Doctors House and Wilson speed away on motorcycles.  I was confused about what happened which is how I felt at the end of most House shows.  It was the only prime-time show I’ve watched for quite awhile so now I guess I won't be watching any.  I once was an LPN so I have an interest in things medical.  I used to watch St. Elsewhere and ER, too, and I really liked St. Elsewhere’s theme song.  In fact, I am humming it to myself right now as I type this.

Today I googled “Hugh Laurie” to try and find out what he’s doing next.  He’s very talented and could do drama or comedy, but I found out that he’s going on a world tour, singing with his band.  How about that.  I found that out from watching a video showing him on The Tonight Show last week.  I missed it on TV because I don’t stay up that late.  Click HERE to watch it.

And, here is the St. Elsewhere theme song and opening credits: 

Wild Horses Photos

The most recent Confessions of Pioneer Woman blogpost had some great photos of a herd of wild horses.  That blog is on my blog list but when you click it it takes you to Pioneer Woman’s main website and not to the Confessions page.  (To get to the Confessions page, simply click on the word “Confessions” in the bar underneath the Pioneer Woman title.)

 Click this sentence to go to the wild horse story. 

I’m not trying to get in good with Pioneer Woman, I simply want you to see the photos.

Veteran’s Markers

Here’s some veteran’s markers I saw in the cemetery on Sunday:

Barn Charm

Here’s proof that you should travel down a road you’ve never taken before.  That’s what I did the other day while on an errand for my husband and was pleasantly surprised to find this round barn!

I have a book entitled Without Right Angles - The Round Barns of Iowa by Lowell Soike.  About this barn it says:

One of sixteen hollow-clay-tile barns believed built by Johnston Bros. Clay Works.  The smaller red clay tile in the lower story and the larger size above characterized the firm’s design, as did the frequent use of a straight conical roof with gable hay dormer.

   

Visit Bluff Area Daily for this week’s Barn Charm.

Yesterday’s Wildflowers

Yesterday afternoon I left home with flowers to put on relatives’ graves and returned with wildflower photos.

Here’s a wild rose, state flower of Iowa:

An anemone:

According to the wildflower book, these next blossoms belong to a wild radish:

They were growing in a patch of wild yellow iris:

Here’s a flowering tree of some sort:

I think this next one is common fleabane, due to the pinkish petals:

And, lastly, here’s a glimpse of prairie phlox and other assorted roadside plants:

Bachelor Button & Bokeh

I was happy with how this photo turned out.  The camera lens and mid-morning light and shade teamed up for some nice bokeh, which is the out-of-focus background.

This is the first time I’ve joined the blog events, “Your Sunday Best” at a A Rural Journal  and “Weekly Top Shot” at The View From Right Here to find this week’s photos.

Trespassing

I’m jealous of the red-wing blackbird in this photo.  I would love to take a walk down that abandoned road but I was taught to read and heed signs.  Maybe illiteracy has its advantages. 

I took this photo this morning on my way to the hospital to pick up my son.  He finally felt well enough to come home after having an appendectomy last Sunday.

Goose Family

Yesterday I was on farmwife go-fer duty when I spied this Canada goose family waddling across a cornfield.  There wasn’t much traffic on the road so I pulled over and snapped a few shots.

I also took pictures of some old barns for Barn Charm.  I’m always happy when my husband asks me to run an errand for him.  I love little road trips.  He, meanwhile, was busy baling round hay bales. 

Our weather is unseasonably warm and dry right now.  Perfect for baling hay, but a critical need for rain is quickly developing.  The newly-planted fields of corn and soybeans need moisture!

Click this sentence to see an earlier post about baling hay.

Currently in Bloom

These yellow-gold wildflowers are in bloom in our area right now.  I’ve seen them along roadsides and in fencelines.

 

One of the books I use for wildflower identification is Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie.  It lists several names for this flower---ragwort, groundsel, squaw weed, and prairie ragwort.

Skywatch

One evening early this month I looked up and saw these clouds churning across the sky over our farmstead.  Thankfully, no storm developed.

Thanks for stopping by!  Visit Skywatch Friday to see this week’s collection of sky photos from around the world.